The Magi (The Magi Series) by Kevin M. Turner Page A

into focus again as he reached out for the boot. When he finally grabbed the boot from Elijah’s hand, his face was relieved. He held the boot in his left hand, and the instant he moved to put it on, his foot slipped, and Samuel plummeted down over the edge of the pass, out of sight. Elijah and Master Roddick were left alone watching in horror.
    Elijah didn’t think. He got down onto the narrow pass flat on his belly and scooted his body along the sliver of a path and hung his head over the ridge. He was afraid to look, but when he did, he screamed for help.
    “Master Roddick! Keep me up!” Elijah commanded, carefully moving his body over the edge. Roddick squeezed behind Elijah and the mountainside and gripped his legs, digging the heel of his boots into the snow for traction. With Roddick holding on, Elijah scooted himself forward so his chest and half his belly hung over the edge.
    Just below Elijah’s hand hung a ghostly-looking Samuel, clinging to the boot which was wedged in between two rocks.
    “I—I—I can’t . . . feel my body,” Samuel said frantically. “I’m—I’m getting dizzy. I think I might let go!” Samuel’s panic returned quickly.
    “Samuel—I can help you, but you have to hang on!” Elijah said in a very serious tone. “Just hang on.” Elijah turned his head around. “Roddick, I need a little more.” Master Roddick lifted his boots, and his grip slipped, suddenly dropping Elijah farther than he needed. Elijah lost his breath for a second. “Whoa there,” he whispered to himself. Below, he could hear Samuel start to plead with him.
    “Please Elijah—I don’t want to—I—I can’t hold on, I’m—” Elijah was afraid he wouldn’t get a chance to help Samuel. If he didn’t hold on, what Elijah did wouldn’t matter. But Samuel was still there, hanging on for his life. Elijah dug into the wedge with his hands. The boot slipped for a second, and Elijah thought briefly that he had dropped Samuel. After a second attempt, he secured the boot along with the weight of Samuel.
    “Pull me up!” Elijah shouted to Roddick as he desperately clung onto the heavy weight. Roddick pulled, but on the way up, Samuel hit his head on a protruding rock. With his body already weakened from panic, the force of the rock caused Samuel to lose consciousness just as Elijah pulled him safely onto the path. Both Elijah and Roddick sat with their backs against the mountain breathing heavily. They looked at each other in a silent congratulation, but not a word was spoken.
    “Go ahead and put the boots back on,” Roddick eventually said. “I’ll carry him the rest of the way until he comes to. Hopefully, we’ll be down by then. You okay?”
    “Yeah,” Elijah lied.
    “Okay. Let’s get going before he wakes up.” Roddick said. He flung Samuel over his broad shoulder like a big bag of grain and carried him with one hand while the other kept his balance. Elijah felt weak and unsteady the rest of the way down the pass, but he didn’t slip once.
    As soon as they reached the bottom of the mountain, the weather instantly changed. What used to be frigid and thick snow turned patchy and soggy, and the temperature increased slightly. Since Samuel was still unconscious, Roddick looked for a place to build a fire to warm up.
    “We may have to make camp around here since it’s getting dark again,” said Roddick.
    “We’re not going to make it to the Magi city tonight?” Elijah asked.
    “Not the way we came today,” Master Roddick answered.
    “The way we came?”
    “Yes. There is more than one way to Savenridge. I’m much more familiar with the northern route than going through the pass,” Roddick said. “I’ve traveled to Savenridge through the pass before, but carrying Samuel took us a little more time.” Roddick massaged and rotated his shoulder. “When you had your sense this morning, I decided to take us through the pass. It’s just as well. If we were being followed by Maliphists, they